Not only did Eastern
Europe receive silk from the trade caravans of China, Tibet, and India, but
it also received the myths of the vampire. As the caravan made its way
to the Mediterranean, they heard tales of vampires as
being red-eyed monsters with green or pink hair, an upper body of a woman
and the lower of a winged serpent, or a vampire fox . These myths spread out along the Black Sea coast
to Greece, the Balkans, and the Carpathian mountains that included Hungary
and Transylvania. Even though the people have believed many things about
vampires, one thing has remained constant and that is the drinking of blood,
returning from death, preying on humans at night, etc.

Who are
vampires? Anyone who
was different was considered a vampire – illegitimate offspring of illegitimate
children, suicides, murderers, an unburied body which had sun or moonlight fall
upon it, a nun stepping over an unburied body, seventh son of a seventh son, a
pregnant woman who had been looked at (especially after her sixth month) by a
vampire had a great risk of her child becoming a vampire, etc.

How do
you find a vampire? There are a few signs such as: holes in the ground above the grave, nails and
hair grown out, coffin containing blood, etc.

How can
you tell if a grave contains a vampire? Have a virgin boy ride naked and
bareback on a virgin stallion through the graveyard until the horse steps on a
grave and goes no further. That marks a vampire’s grave.

In the 1730s in Serbia, vampires were
a real concern and a hot topic of conversation. During this time, a string of
murders and farm animal deaths were attributed to vampires. Thinking that many
of the dead were vampires, a number of corpses were exhumed and found to be in
remarkable condition with their veins still holding liquid blood or rosy-cheeks
with blood trickling from their mouths. One theory of science is that this is a
rare form of a genetic disease called “porphyria,” a disorder affecting
synthesis of hemoglobin. Another theory is that the coldness and dampness of
the ground caused the corpses to stay preserved.

Even today people of Eastern Europe believe that vampires
exist. During January 2004, Toma Petre of Romania passed away.
After his passing, several family members had difficulty with illnesses and
the only conclusion was that Toma was draining their strength. The
family felt the only thing they could do was dig him up and remove his
heart. After that, they burnt it, mixed it with water, and the family
drank the mixture.

The villagers of Marotinu deSus believe this was the right thing to do, but
the family has run into trouble with the local police. This incident
is being investigated and the police expect to file charges later. It
is unlawful for the family to disturb the peace of the dead and to re-kill
the corpse. Penalty could be a three-year jail term